I have got a shitton of eggplant to use up.

[conuly]

Because tomorrow, I will pick up the CSA and receive EVEN MORE EGGPLANT!

The nieces aren't even here to help me eat it (not that they would), they're with their dad. I think I may have to resort to forcefeeding Jenn and my mom.

**********************************************************

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Comments

[eofs.livejournal.com]

So hi! This is nothing to do with aubergine (because they're wrong) but could I pick your brains?

Husband and I are planning on going to New York for a few days next month (well, early October) and due to New York + last minute nature of booking (we were planning the holiday at the beginning of the year, but then we started buying a house so it got shoved on the back burner) we're obviously struggling a bit with hotel prices. It seems to me that if we stay in Brooklyn we might be able to get a reasonable deal, or in Staten Island. Are those reasonable enough places to stay? We want to be close to (non-bus) public transport but Brooklyn seems well connected. (I appreciate that Staten Island would mean taking the ferry - if I've learnt nothing else from reading your journal for 10 years, I've learnt that!)

We've basically never been to New York so we'll want to be doing the main touristy sights. Would we be better to bite the bullet and stay more centrally? (We're perfectly used to picking hotels in London which require us to take the tube to get to wherever we're going, so it's not like we're put off by the thought of using the subway.) Is there an easy way for me to work out whether or not a hotel's neighbourhood is sketchy?

Thanks for any advice!

[conuly]

If you're on Staten Island on the North Shore, you're pretty damn close to the boat (And sri lankan food! AND ME!), which puts you about 30 minutes from Manhattan. That's doable. But, sadly, our public transportation dwindles rapidly once you're off the North Shore. (Then again, I'm not certain we have many places to stay mid-Island or the South Shore, so that might not be an issue.)

If you're in Brooklyn, you should be fine. They're pretty well-saturated with trains and buses, and you shouldn't be too far from Midtown or Lower Manhattan no matter *where* in Brooklyn you are. You can check on a map to see how close you are to public transportation, of course.

As for sketchiness, honestly, the only thing I would be scared of is bedbugs. *shudders* But what neighborhoods are the hotels you're looking at? Gimme a rough idea, and I'll be able to say "oh, god, no, there were like a zillion murders there last month alone" or "nah, they're all gentrified and shit, it's safer than safe".

[eofs.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anything in our desired price range near the boat, but we might still want to take the ferry over at some point.

We've found a lot more places in Queens than Brooklyn, particularly in Astoria - about half a dozen of interest in the area bounded by 23rd & 80th and the subway. That's looking like our top choice. There are also a couple of more expensive options on Manhattan in/near Chinatown as well as two cheaper ones in random places that I can't work out how to categorise (820 39th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232 and 53-05 Queens Blvd Woodside, NY, 11377).

Any thoughts on those areas? Especially that part of Astoria.

We thought we'd found a brilliant place to stay in London for my birthday - spitting distance from Baker Street, reasonable price (for London) and a little kitchenette in the room. But it apparently had bedbugs as I got bitten :0(

[conuly]

Queens, I don't know much about, but it's pretty stable. The only picture I have in my mind of Astoria is "safe and reliable", so there you go. (But then, I could be nuts here. I'll poke my sister, she has friends in Queens.)

When you take the ferry over, stop and get some eggplant at any of the sri lankan places. They're *right* by the boat, so you don't have to travel to get there. You have to! It doesn't even taste like eggplant.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

We've booked into the Ramada Long Island City. New York baby! (Having had to postpone booking a few days, our first choice had gone. But given that our second choice was on the same street and has about the same ratings, it's not a huge loss. Mostly it's a shame because that one had a microwave in the room.)

New York! Eeeee!

[conuly]

Great! Promise me you'll head out here to buy some eggplant at least once. Mmm. Delicious sri lankan eggplant....

(Why yes, yes it is my mission in life to convert people to the joys of this dish.)

[eofs.livejournal.com]

I hate aubergine/eggplant, and Guido's not a huge fan. So we probably won't go with that specific aim. But we might well still get the ferry over at some point.

I presume there's other Sri Lankan food than just eggplant? I sort of plan to use NY the same way I use London - as an opportunity to try food from cultures I'm never going to visit. Though I do need to make a list of all the food I see people talking about online which I want to try, like cannoli.

[conuly]

Seriously, doesn't taste like eggplant. If we meet up you can have a bite of mine. AND NO MORE BECAUSE I WOULD NOT SHARE THAT WITH A DYING PERSON. Maybe a dying person.

Yes, there is other stuff, although it tends towards the spicy. It's a lot like Indian food but with less dairy and lots more fish. Well, that makes sense.

You've never had cannoli? Poor you! You know, I believe the Big Onion does a LES tasting tour. That might be fun.

[sayga.livejournal.com]

I have some eggplants growing outside. I don't know yet what I'll do with them. Have any awesome recipes you could share?

[conuly]

I think I've found a recipe for sri lankan eggplant, and if that turns out to be just the same as all the restaurants sell I'll gladly pass it along. It's a little finicky and requires some special ingredients, though.

Otherwise, I've been making a lot of ratatouille, which uses up both eggplant and squash.